Doctor suspended in Wyoming and Arizona amid pill probe

Updated 5:20 pm, Thursday, December 1, 2016

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A Casper doctor who recently had his medical privileges suspended in Wyoming and Arizona faces a federal charge of conspiring to distribute the painkiller Oxycodone.

A criminal complaint was unsealed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Wyoming against Dr. Shakeel A. Kahn and his wife Lyn Kahn. It alleges Dr. Kahn prescribed inappropriately large amounts of the powerful painkiller to patients.

Search warrant applications from U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents also unsealed on Thursday state the agents believe Dr. Kahn was taking cash payments to prescribe Oxycodone to patients in Wyoming, Arizona and elsewhere.

Agents stated that some patients were filling prescriptions simultaneously from Dr. Kahn in Wyoming and Arizona.

The Kahns were arrested Wednesday in Casper and remained jailed Thursday. They are scheduled for an initial court appearance Friday in Casper. Court records don't reflect if they've retained lawyers.

A DEA agent swore out an affidavit to support the charge against the Kahns. The agent states that the investigation was prompted by a complaint from the Wyoming Board of Pharmacy. The agent states that some patients were filling prescriptions each month in both Wyoming and Arizona for substantial quantities of drugs in each state.

Prosecutors are seeking to seize bank accounts and other assets owned by the Kahns and associated business interests.

Also on Thursday, a criminal complaint was unsealed in Wyoming charging a Massachusetts man, Paul Edward Beland, with conspiring to distribute Oxycodone.

The complaint against Beland alleges he traveled to Wyoming to fill prescriptions from Dr. Kahn and had recruited family members to get prescriptions from him also. Court records don't reflect that Beland has retained a lawyer and he has not yet appeared in court in Wyoming.